ESPN

The Big Ten/ACC Challenge announced Monday that Northwestern will host Maryland on Nov. 27, and Illinois will host Georgia Tech on Nov. 28.

Northwestern is 6-7 and has won its last four games in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Wildcats never have faced Maryland in the conference challenge.

Illinois also is 6-7 and has won its last three games in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. It has never played Georgia Tech in the challenge.

Northwestern went 19-14 overall and reached its fourth consecutive NIT last season. The Wildcats return four starters and five of their top seven players. Northwestern also will add Louisville transfer Jared Swopshire and TCU transfer Nikola Cerina, who will both be eligible next season, and redshirt freshman Tre Demps, who sat out last season with an injury.

Illinois went 17-15 overall and was not invited to a postseason tournament. The Illini fired coach Bruce Weber following the season, and he was replaced by John Groce, who coached Ohio to the Sweet 16 last season. Illinois will return all but two players from last year’s team and add Coastal Carolina transfer Sam McLaurin, who will be eligible next season.

Northwestern senior tight end Drake Dunsmore and senior wide receiver Jeremy Ebert were selected in the NFL draft on Saturday.

Dunsmore was taken by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the seventh round as the 233rd overall pick. Two picks later, the New England Patriots drafted Ebert in the seventh round with the 235th overall pick.

“That was great,” Dunsmore said of seeing Ebert selected. “I was so happy for him. It’s better late than never. I was happy for both of us to be able to get drafted.”

Dunsmore caught 45 passes for 522 yards and six touchdowns during his senior season. He had 143 receptions for 1,567 yards and 14 touchdowns in his career.

“It’s just an opportunity,” Dunsmore said of being drafted. “As far as the draft goes, as far as I’m concerned, it’s an opportunity to make a little more money. Everyone is in the same spot. Everyone is going to be in the same situation. You got to earn it.

“It was exciting (to see my name on television.) I know it was the seventh round, late in the draft, but it didn’t matter to me. I was very excited. It was a dream come true.”

Ebert caught 75 passes for 1,060 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2011. For his career, he had 173 receptions for 2,400 yards and 21 touchdowns.

Ebert was unavailable for comment on Saturday.

Maine South junior quarterback Matt Alviti has committed to Northwestern.

Alviti, a 6-foot, 185-pound dual-threat quarterback, chose the Wildcats over Boston College, Indiana, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Purdue. He committed to Northwestern after its spring game on Saturday.

Alviti completed 150-of-230 passes for 2,210 yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions as a junior. He also rushed for 609 yards and 12 touchdowns.

“I just think it was a large combination of things for him,” Maine South coach David Inserra said of Alviti’s commitment. “It’s a well-educated decision on his part. He took his time. He did it right. He measured it against the other schools in the mix. I think in the end it was the offense they run, their coaches and how can you argue with that education.”

Inserra thought Alviti shouldn’t have a difficult time adjusting to Northwestern’s spread offense because Maine South runs something similar. Alviti has started since his sophomore year in Inserra’s offense.

“We actually stole from them, borrowed from them,” Inserra said. “I think it’ll be a natural fit for him. It’s geared toward his game to be a dual-threat type of guy. He can throw it on the run a lot.

“I’m really excited for Matt and his family and excited for the Wildcats. I think it’s a great fit for both.”

Northwestern now has one Class of 2013 commitment.

Former Louisville forward Jared Swopshire will transfer to Northwestern, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Read the entire story.

With a persistent hammering disrupting an answer about his mental state during a conference call, Northwestern coach Bill Carmody joked, "That's me banging my head against the wall."

What a cut-up. No, that's the metaphor for Northwestern's basketball program. Forever building.

Carmody is in for Year 13 as the outlier of major college basketball, the Northwestern Wildcats, strives on to make that first NCAA tournament, which is probably the most embarrassing streaks in sports, and yes, definitely worse than the Cubs' World Series streak.

Read the full story.

Will No. 13 be a lucky or unlucky one for Northwestern coach Bill Carmody?

Carmody was provided Thursday the security of another season, his 13th, at Northwestern. The Wildcats likely will have to reach the NCAA tournament next season for him to see No. 14.

Northwestern’s program has been on the rise in the last four years under Carmody, making four consecutive NIT appearances and being deemed an NCAA tournament bubble team this past year. But expectations have grown at Northwestern, and simply being in the NCAA tournament discussion is no longer enough.

Even as Northwestern athletic director Jim Phillips gave Carmody his vote of confidence in a statement on Thursday, he made sure to include two important words -- not satisfied.

“We had another solid season competitively, but let me be perfectly clear: we are not satisfied,” Phillips said.

As in the past, Northwestern is far from being a lock for the NCAA tournament team next season. The Wildcats weren’t able to get there the past two years under the senior leadership of Michael Thompson in 2011 and John Shurna in 2012. Both will go down as two of the program’s greatest players.

The Wildcats will graduate Shurna, who is the school’s all-time leading scorer, but return four starters -- freshman guard David Sobolewski, junior swingman Drew Crawford, junior guard Reggie Hearn and sophomore guard JerShon Cobb. They will also bring back sixth man Alex Marcotullio, a junior guard, and will have TCU transfer 6-9 junior forward Nikola Cerina eligible after sitting out this past season.

Northwestern’s recruiting class includes 6-7 small forward Kale Abrahamson, who has been touted for his shooting ability, 6-6 small forward Sanjay Lumpkin, a versatile forward, and 6-11 center Alex Olah, who should help the Wildcats immediately on the glass.

Bill Carmody will remain Northwestern's coach after athletic director Jim Phillips gave him a vote of confidence on Thursday.

Read the entire story.

ESPN college basketball analyst Stephen Bardo said Monday he believes Bill Carmody should remain Northwestern’s coach for at least one more season.

“I would keep him,” Bardo said. “I think he’s done enough to warrant that. The trajectory of the program is in the right direction.”

Northwestern struggled during Carmody’s first eight years and experienced one winning season. He’s since had four consecutive winning seasons and coached the Wildcats to a school-record four consecutive NITs. The Wildcats have gone 179-191 overall and 66-136 in the Big Ten in Carmody’s 12 seasons

(Read full post)

INDIANAPOLIS -- There are various levels of disappointment with the most painful being the one at which you’re so close to success, but still end up in failure.

Thursday’s 75-68 overtime loss to Minnesota in the first round of the Big Ten tournament was that for Northwestern. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, it was hardly the first defeat of that nature this season.

2011-12 has been a season defined by them. There may not be another team in the country that has been so close to success, but still so far from it.

Here’s a quick look back at Northwestern’s myriad gut-wrenching disappointments this season:

• 57-56 loss to Illinois on Jan. 4

• 66-64 overtime loss to Michigan on Jan. 11

• 58-56 loss to Purdue on Jan. 28

• 71-66 loss to Indiana on Feb. 15

• 67-55 overtime loss to Michigan on Feb. 21

• 75-73 loss to Ohio State on Feb. 29

• 75-68 overtime loss to Minnesota on March 8

Despite ending up on the wrong end of so many close calls, Northwestern’s spirits haven’t been crushed through it all. The Wildcats consider themselves fighters, and that’s what they’ll continue to do.

“This team’s tough,” Northwestern sophomore JerShon Cobb said. “We come back. We fight through adversity. But sometimes the ball just doesn’t bounce your way.”

While each disappointment has been difficult for the Wildcats to endure, what will make them even harder to swallow if they’re the reasons Northwestern is kept out of the NCAA tournament again. If Northwestern wins any of those games, it may just be on the right side of the bubble.

Northwestern junior Drew Crawford hoped the NCAA tournament selection committee didn’t evaluate it simply based on wins and losses and saw there was more to its résumé. He felt the Wildcats left no doubt they could play with anyone in the country with so many close games in the Big Ten. They just haven’t won them all.

“It’s a game we should have won,” Crawford said of the Minnesota loss. “It was a tough game that we weren’t able to win. At the same time, we’re a tough team. I think that we showed throughout the entire year. So I just hope other people understand that and able to see that we’re a tough team, capable of playing with the elite.”

An Express through the Wildcat's rocky season as they head to the Big Ten Tournament.

Here are four keys for Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament this week:

1. Stay competitive on the glass: Northwestern isn’t going to out-rebound most Big Ten teams. They’ve done so just twice in the last nine games. But what the Wildcats can do is strive to stay competitive on the glass. They can’t be out-rebounded 44-18 like they did recently against Ohio State and still feel good about their chances. In a recent win over Iowa, Northwestern lost on the boards by two rebounds, but still won the game. Minnesota is a difficult matchup for the Wildcats in this respect. The Gophers out-rebounded Northwestern 77-42 in their two games this year.

2. Unsung hero has to emerge: Drew Crawford and John Shurna are going to get theirs. They averaged a combined 35.3 points a game in the Big Ten season. But someone else has step up behind them. When Northwestern upset Michigan State, Davide Curletti went off for 17 points. In a victory at Illinois, Reggie Hearn scored 20 points. David Sobolewski had 22 points in a win over Minnesota. Alex Marcotullio had his best game with 12 points off the bench in a one-point victory over Penn State. And in a win at Iowa, JerShon Cobb had his best game with 13 points.

3. Get seven or more steals: Northwestern is 6-3 in Big Ten games it recorded seven or more steals this season. Those extra points off transition usually put Northwestern over the top. The three losses were to Illinois by one point, at Wisconsin by double digits and by two points to Ohio State.

4. Change Big Ten history: Northwestern has never won more than one game in the Big Ten tournament since the tourney began in 1998. The Wildcats have to change that if they want to assure themselves of another accomplishment they’ve never reached -- the NCAA tournament.

Michael “Juice” Thompson will be roughly 4,500 miles away from the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis. But come Friday if Northwestern has clinched its first NCAA tournament berth after a couple of Big Ten tournament victories, Thompson will be celebrating as if he was still on floor for the Wildcats.

“I still feel a part of it,” the former Northwestern star said by phone from Germany where he plays for the Fraport Skyliners. “I definitely spent a lot of time and dedication to that program. It’s given me a lot. I’ve always said if didn’t make, I wanted the players I played with to make it. It would mean a lot to me.”

Thompson is still too connected to Northwestern right now to feel any different. Just a year ago, he was leaving his legacy on the program. He’ll be among Northwestern’s career leaders in nearly every statistical category for years to come, and the Wildcats’ run to three consecutive NITs with him as starting point guard was a major step for the program.

Thompson also knows Northwestern’s current team inside and out. He’s been teammates with all the current Wildcats’ players except the freshmen, and he spent a bulk of the summer guiding freshman David Sobolewski to replace him as the starting point guard.

Thompson still keeps in touch with most of the players and planned to send them a message before Thursday’s game against Minnesota.

(Read full post)

Northwestern may be desperate to get into its first NCAA tournament, but coach Bill Carmody said Monday he won't go out and plead his team's case.

Read the entire story.

DePaul, Illinois and Northwestern haven’t cut it completely as individual teams this season, and there’s a growing chance all three could be shut out of the NCAA tournament.

As I watched Ohio State grab rebound after rebound on Wednesday, it made me think all Northwestern was missing was a big man like Illinois’ Meyers Leonard.

That thought led me to this: If you could assemble one team (starters and bench) from all three of the state’s high-major teams, who would you choose?

Here’s my team:

(Read full post)

ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi still has Northwestern in the tournament after losing to Ohio State on Wednesday, but it was close to being the other way.

“I think they’re in by a finger nail,” Lunardi said by phone on Thursday. “I mean I could easily make a case to take them out and probably take more effort to keep them in. I just couldn’t with good conscience take them out with not enough teams winning under them in the out group.

“I couldn’t in good conscience torture them any further after that game. It may be an emotional decision more than anything else.”

(Read full post)